6 reasons why electric co-ops might not apply for BEAD

Electric co-ops are uniquely positioned to apply for, and win, Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funds because they already reach most of the homes in the U.S. that are currently unserved with broadband. But the question is: do co-ops even want to apply for BEAD? Cliff Johnson, head of the Rural Broadband Initiative with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) says electric co-ops are uniquely positioned to serve broadband to remote and rural customers. However, there are some reasons why co-ops would not want to provide broadband: 

1. There’s not enough home density
2. Co-ops don’t have experience with marketing
3. Pole issues
4. Regulatory hurdles
5. Competition with bigger players
6. Organizational challenges